From 1 to 4 in less than 60 days - please help!

I have mentioned that I have decided to get Monty a g/f and eventually breed him. Mostly for kicks and giggles, didn't give it a lot of thought going in. I figured I could get just about any color girl I like since he is a normal and would produce normal babies no matter what. So I went to the store I got him from yesterday and fell in love with a little ghost, they probed this one and it is male. I was sooooo disappointed!!! I went to another store looking for a female ghost but I was just not too excited with what I found. I came home empty-handed, but with a head full of ideas. Uh-oh! :eek1: So I discussed it with hubby (who is being amazingly indulgent of my little obsession here!), and I am going to get the male ghost and then go to the reptile expo in 2 weeks and look for girls for both of them. Wow!!! And yes, I realize that unless I get big girls I won't be breeding for at least 2 years (I doubt I'll get anything younger than a 2004 tho), but that is A-OK with me. I'm sorta rushing into things getting 3 more already but I am not in a big hurry to breed.

Now for the questions . . . I realized that by getting 3 more corns I'm going to have some logistical problems - how to house them all?!? Monty lives in a 20 gallon aquarium, hubby wanted me to provide habitats for all my lil snakes, however I think that might be cost prohibitive on the front end. So I was thinking of possibly getting another 20 gal and dividing it and Monty's and housing them that way til they get bigger. However, that will be weird cause I stuck the heater to the glass (won't do that again!) on one side. I was actually thinking of getting 3 of those lil critter keepers from Wal-Mart for the time being and springing for more tanks when my wallet hasn't taken a huge hit from snake buying. LOL Obviously setting up a rack for 4 snakes would be a little extreme! :laugh: Especially cause I am not (really, I mean it) going to buy any more for quite a while. So, what would be the best, least expensive way to heat the critter keepers? I know that I can't use an UTH under them. I know many of you use flexi-watt for your racks, but as I said that would be a little extreme at this point.

Anyway, I need to get set up before I go get that lil' ghost, so any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!! (Except the thoughts about how I shouldn't rush into this!!! I've already discussed that with myself. REALLY! LOL)

forget critter keepers

Instead of the critter keepers go into the storage isle at Wal-mart and get sterlite tubs. Much cheaper all you got to do is drill some holes. Prop the tub up some how with blocks then stick the UTH to a ceramic tile and place under the sterlite. Put the little rubber feet that you get with the UTH on the bottom of the tile to let it have more air circulation. You can monitor the temperature and raise and lower your tub to increase or decrease the temp.

Welcome to my life. I'm getting ready to seriously consider a rack system. I just don't have the room for individual tanks anymore. As it is I'm already co-habitating my 6 snakes between 4 enclosures. Anyways. I would also highly suggest the use of sterilites. Affordible and easy. You can use a 12 qt for the first couple of years, and then I think that you move to the 28 qt. Well, anyways, you now know how addictive these little buggers can be. Just wait until you get it in your head to start your own projetct , now there's an adventure. Can't wait to see pics of the little guys.

You need to figure this out quick!

E. g. g. said:

You can use a 12 qt for the first couple of years,

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Not true. You can use the 12 qt for about a year. Anything more than that and the snake will start getting cramped (especially if you are regularly feeding them and growing them quickly)

The question you need to answer Peep is whether you'd rather have displays or practical housing. If you want life-long display enclosures, 20 gallons are going to be too small for an adult corn and cage accessories. Should you decide to maximize space and go with tubs, decorations won't be necessary or viewable.

The type of heating system you'll want to use will depend on the outcome of your housing decision as well.

If you're looking for multiple snake housing ideas, try this tread.

Racks are, obviously, the best way to go...unless you want them all on display...

Little trick...I have unstuck MANY UTH's...and have never had a problem with any of them...

Peel them off slowly...and try not to bend them TOO much...but UTH's are pretty sturdy...and can handle being peeled off...

I have a couple of 20's and a couple of 40's that are divided...piece of plexi and aquarium sealant...just notch out the plastic on the inside rim of the tank so the plexi fits snuggly. Also very easy to convert back to a full size tank...the aquarium sealant is easily removed from the glass with a razor scraper.

For 20L tanks...they even make a screen top that is hinged in the middle...fits well over the plexi...with a couple dabs of sealant in a couple spots to prevent the small snakes from going from one side to the other...this way you can open each side independantly...and each side has it own clips.

I'll try to get you a picture of mine...pretty simple really.

CAV said:

20 gallons are going to be too small for an adult corn and cage accessories.

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Do you really think so? I've kept some 4 footers in 20L tanks before and they seem roomy enough to me. Granted, there was always just one hide and a water bowl, nuthin fancy. Just curious.

That obviously depends on the size of the snake and the level of the "accessorizing".

More ideas . . .

Thanks for the thoughts everyone.

CAV, I was pretty much planning to aquire temporary inexpensive housing for my hoped for new snakes, I was planning to get 20 gal reptile display tanks from Petsmart in the next 6 months to 1 year for each of them. I intend to only keep 4 until I breed them and that won't be for a couple years. Then I'd probably only keep a few babies long-term and sell the rest. I figured I'd cross that bridge when I come to it. However, you have me concerned that 20 gal tanks won't be big enough for my adults, because I was going to consider the tanks permanent housing.

I got some sterilites at Wal-Mart today. I thought they were really cool cause they were bigger than the kritter keepers and less than 1/2 the price. They don't have a qt. size on them at all . . . it says "show offs" medium size. I especially liked them cause the bottoms are curved to stack but would make it very convenient to put a tile and heater under. And the lids really lock! I'm looking at 2004s but now I am concerned these won't be big enough even for a year. Really, there is no reason in the world I couldn't go get the 28 qts now if that is going to really be the best long term housing situation for my snakes.

Really, yesterday I was going to buy 1 snake, a gf for Monty, and I wanted to get some ghosts the end of 2005. Figures I'd stumble across a male ghost I just HAVE to have . . . LOL but since I knew that's where I wanted to go eventually with this it's not too much of an impulse purchase. Anyway, I digress, if I'd got one yesterday I was just going to get one of those 20 gallon tanks then. I'm glad I'm thinking this through now, though, it's getting complicated!!!

The good thing about Sterilite tubs is that you can buy one, reuse it, and upgrade to larger sizes for just a few bucks. They also make great feeding containers once your snakes outgrow the deli cups.

One thing you will need to be careful about is ensuring that the Sterilite lids are escape proofed. Black binder clips work extremely well for this purpose.

The impulse of purchasing snakes is what gets you every time...


Welcome to the addiction...heh heh heh :devil01:

Peep, why not wait till the expo to get all of your new snakes?

You'd likely be getting much older snakes (6-7months) and more than likely healthier snakes from a breeder.

Joerjr14 - The male ghost I want is from the same pet shop I got Monty from, and so far I've been really impressed with their corns and petshop husbandry. They have given me good advice so far, and Monty is a great little snake. I feel really good about buying from them again, even tho they are a little pricey.

I went to another shop yesterday and was really disappointed with their selection, their husbandry, and the advice they gave me. I left w/out a snake. I don't really care for most pet shops, but I do like the one that I deal with. And I really, really like that little male ghost I saw there yesterday. I was going to buy him til I found out he was a boy. Little did I know that hubby would be agreeable to aquiring 3 more now (I'd told him I wanted to get the ghosts next fall). LOL

At the same time I'm not in a huge rush to get down there and get him, I realized that if I am going to get 3 more now I'd better figure out set-ups 1st. IF he's gone by the time I'm ready I'll just look at the expo and see what I find. No worries! (RIGHT!!!)

peep_827 said:

At the same time I'm not in a huge rush to get down there and get him, I realized that if I am going to get 3 more now I'd better figure out set-ups 1st. IF he's gone by the time I'm ready I'll just look at the expo and see what I find. No worries! (RIGHT!!!)

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12qt sterilites is really the only way to go. They're a god send. I went from 2 to 10 corns in about 2 months thanks to sterilites and a rack system.

CAV said:

One thing you will need to be careful about is ensuring that the Sterilite lids are escape proofed. Black binder clips work extremely well for this purpose.

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Yes! I highly agree. I used sterilites without binder clips for all of 3 days, then one of my hatchlings got loose. Thankfully I found the little guy the next day, but now all of them have binder clips holding the lids down.

CAV, Thanks for the tip about the binder clips, I never would have thought of that even tho I used to work for a lawyer and was always using those things. Now that I'm thinking about it I'm going take these back and get some 12 qts. I was concerned that the lids didn't seem to fit very tight. I don't think the ones I got are that big - the bottom measures 12" x 8". They looked bigger in the store next to the kritter keeper. Then I can decide later on if I want tanks or 28 qt. sterilites. It occurred to me that perhaps I could leave up my 20 gal. display and rotate which snake lives in it (after cleanings of course) and house the others in sterilites. Lots of options, tho I am wondering if you can stack sterilites if you use UTH . . . hmmm . . .

Binder clips? What size?

Big enough to be effective.

The 1" ones work like a charm.

What is a binder clip??

That is a binder clip...available at ANY office supply store...get the big ones...they are STRONG...